Amputee
by zebra-scarf
Summary: Everyone thinks Levi is such a hard ass, smooth criminal, overall prickly son of a bitch. But even Levi blushes and stutters when the girl he likes walks into the room. Too bad for him she has other things to obsess about like titans, her Squad Leader Hange, engineering, and her dead twin. OC-centric Eventual Levi/OC with maybe a little Bertolt/OC
1. Lac and John Went to Build

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><p>"Twins have a special bond. They feel safer with each other than with their peers."<p>

-Jeanne Philips

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><p>x<p>

**Year 845**

The trickle of a small stream and the rustling of the summer breeze through the tall grass was the only background noise as my brother and I sat outside. I was tinkering with my invention and he was just sitting there. I couldn't risk working on it in town. A few weeks back I had begun drawing my invention when my step-mother found the papers and tore them to shreds before beating me severely. I still had bruises on my stomach.

My hand absentmindedly reached for the spot and I rubbed it to ease some of the lingering pain.

"If it's any consolation, Dad wasn't very happy with Margret when he found out. He still isn't. I hear them fighting outside by the barn every night..." my brother trailed off brushing his hands against the grass.

It probably should have been amazing that he could tell I had been rubbing my bruises without even seeing me, but I'd known him since before my birth. We'd shared a womb and sometimes I even think we shared feelings and thoughts. It didn't matter that he was blind, he always knew what I was doing, just as I always felt him on some level inside my mind.

I sighed and choose not to add comment. He knew where my feelings stood in regards to my father and step-mother. I instead evaluated my work thus far. I had crafted two wooden wheels and the frame was almost done.

"Why are people so scared of change?" I asked myself and my twin aloud, "If... if my invention pans out- it could seriously help travel and it would make so many more things time efficient and- and... _urgh_!" I tossed my tools back into tool box causing a loud clatter. I'd be worried of attracting attention but this spot was secret. An hour and half hike from my family's farm which itself was a half hour walk from town.

My brother stopped playing with the long blades of grass and turned to face my voice, his expression full of contemplation. "Maybe... maybe people are scared of what they don't know? I mean look at the Titans. We don't know a thing about them and they're the most terrifying things in this world. Except perhaps death, but even then we don't know anything about death and that's why so many people try everything in their power to not die. Even though it will eventually happen to them anyways..." he trailed off.

My body stilled as his speech once again turned toward dark subjects like death and the Titans.

I looked up from my work at him. His eyes probably would have been dark like mine, but instead, the blindness left them this milky blue color. It was frightening for most people in our small village. I adored them. I studied the look on his face. Peaceful. The looked unnerved me.

"Okay - spill, John. What're ya thinking about in that crazy brain of yours?" I asked, my expression flat.

He smiled bashfully and scratched his cheek.

"Just something the Doctor said to me..."

I couldn't keep my eyes from rolling. John had been seeing a doctor in the village for a little over three years now, since he was nine. I didn't like the guy. He always watched everyone around him like they were beneath him. Like he was in on some joke the rest of us weren't privy.

"Oh yeah? And what did good ol' Doc Stupid Face say this time?" I asked, laying down next to where John was sitting. I reached forward to grab his hand and set it on my forehead. He began to stroke my hair.

"I asked him to describe what the Titans look like... he's seen them, you know? He was granted permission to watch some from the top of Wall Maria… research stuff." I stiffened but otherwise remained silent.

John continued to stroke my hair, but after I was silent for too long he tugged none too nicely.

"_Ouch_!" I shouted, and made to smack his hand- only he pulled it away at the last moment and I ended up smacking my own head.

John chuckled and leaned back on both his arms as I stared up at him.

"Anyways… he told me that they looked like us. Kind of. Some of their proportions are more exaggerated than normal humans, but mostly they look pretty human..."

"What else?" I asked, because it was written all over his face he was deeply thinking about something and he wanted to talk about it, even if the subject disturbed me.

"He said that a lot of them have this... smile. A constant smile. So I got thinking, the Titans are probably happy. But then I thought, 'What could they be so happy about? They don't do anything. They don't do anything-' When I realized they're happy... to eat us. That's their happiness. They're not doing it to be cruel. And- well if it's only natural for them to eat us, maybe we should all just get eaten so that life could just progress from there?"

The wind stopped and the air grew still. I... couldn't, I couldn't form anything to say. I jumped and grabbed his shoulders forcing him to turn toward me even though he couldn't see me. He looked startled, but with a hint of familiarity. Like he knew this would be my reaction, that stupid small smile on his face.

"If you ever say stupid shit like that again, you won't have to wait for a Titan to eat you- I'll kill you myself! Do you understand me, John?" I asked wildly shaking him, hoping I could force reason into him if I shook hard enough.

He just laughed.

Totally not my desired effect.

"I'm not joking! Tell me you understand!" I shouted, becoming a bit frantic. This wasn't the first time he had said something about dying or just letting himself or others die because all of us were going to die anyway. He called it 'natural' and a 'kindness' that we humans were allowed to die. I didn't try to understand his logic on this topic.

"I know, I know," he chanted pulling his arms up to cup my cheeks. He started wiping tears I hadn't even realized I'd been crying.

"I'm sorry, Lacramo. I'm sorry, okay? I just wasn't thinking is all."

I took a deep breath and pulled away from him, wiping my own eyes.

"You have to promise me something, John," I said, pulling on my serious voice.

"Hmm?" he asked, looking off to the side of where my eyes were.

"You have to promise me that no matter what happens, Titans, robbers or murders, you have to promise that you'll never give up because of your goddamn idea of 'kindness', okay? It's not a kindness to let something kill you just because it can."

The smile returned fully to his face and he closed his eyes. Like he was stewing over an answer that would pacify me. "Okay, Lac. I promise to never let myself die. Will you stop crying now?" he asked tilting his head to the side and looked straight at me, as if he could actually see me.

I felt my face heat up at his intense stare that had somehow managed to catch my eyes directly. I turned to look off at the water and my discarded tools and invention.

"Tch, who's crying? Not me..." I muttered and started packing everything up in burlap bags and put them back in their hidey-hole I had created so no one could stumble upon my work. When I turned around John was standing and offering his hand toward me.

"C'mon, let's go home," he said, smiling at me. I let him pull me up before I started leading the two of us home.

The year was 845. Three weeks later Wall Maria would fall at the forces of the Colossal Titan and the Armored Titan and two days after that the Titans would reach my small village before the news could.

Had I known, that walking home with John on that bright Sunday afternoon would be one of the last times I would get to enjoy his company…

I would have told him I loved him.

I would have held him.

I would have vocalized everything he was to me even though the two of us didn't need to say those kinds of things out loud.

Because three weeks and two days from that moment I would only be half of the person I was born. Because three weeks and two days after that Sunday my brother, my twin, would be dead.

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><p>AN: what the fuck is wrong with me? this isn't my godric story. this isn't my other godric story. what is this? Lac and John the twins... living in the SNK world... i just. i don't know why i'm writing this. i guess i'm feeling sorry for myself.


	2. Titan Killer

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><p>"Mum used to say we were the same soul split in two and walking around on four legs. It seems unnatural being born together and then dying apart."<p>

-Melodie Ramone, A_fter Forever Ends  
><em>

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><p>x<p>

**Year 851**

"You know what I heard?" Thomas asked the group of bunks around his bed.

Eren was laying back with his eyes closed, but listening as the rest of the guys talked on through the night.

"What did you hear, Thomas?" Armin asked, politely.

Eren opened his eyes and saw Thomas lean closer to his and Armin's bed and with a conspiratorial whisper began his gossip.

"I heard that when Wall Maria fell, there was a small farming village on the southeastern side of the Plains Territory that didn't get warned when the Titans came. Before the Scouts could reach their town two Titans had already arrived and started devouring people. _However_..." Thomas took a dramatic pause as Armin and other boys leaned in closer, "When the scouts finally did get there, there was only _one_ Titan left!"

"What happened to the other?" Armin asked, completely engrossed in the story.

Eren sat up, his curiosity peaking, along with other boys that had gathered. It was only their second week at the trainee barracks so everyone was still trying to get to know each other.

"That's where the legend comes in! The monster of a human that killed a Titan with no training! They say the Titan was a 20 meter class! And she was armed with only a butcher's carving knife!"

A bunch of groans rang out.

"Oh come off it, Thomas!"

"That's impossible."

"You're just making stuff up now, go to bed!"

"Huh?! No, I'm not making this up! I swear! One of the older cadets told me..." Thomas said his voice wavering.

"But really, Thomas. Think about it, we already learned that the only thing capable of cutting Titan skin is the steal worked over completely by the army's skilled weapon's craftsmen. How could she of possibly killed one with a simple knife?" Eren asked, laying back down.

"W-well then I'll prove it! She's here- _the Titan Killer_. I'll find her tomorrow and have her tell you guys herself!"

"Eren and I will help you then!" Armin said, with convection. His bleeding heart going out for all the flank Thomas was getting from his fellow recruits.

"Oh '_we_' are, are we?" Eren asked quirking an eyebrow

"Hehe, well..." Armin scratched his cheek, blushing a bit, "It's not as if we have anything else to do. Even though it's our day off, these training grounds are located pretty remotely. What else would we have to do?" Armin asked, and looked at Eren with those pleading eyes.

Eren huffed.

"Fine, fine- whatever. I'm going to bed now though," Eren replied, rolling over.

"W-wow thanks guys!" Thomas shouted, laying down himself with a happy flop.

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><p>Thomas jogged over to the two boys from the Shiganshina District.<p>

"Okay, I- I think I found her!" he said, out of breath. All morning he had been running around trying to find the supposed Titan killer among the final year recruits.

"Which one?" Armin asked, looking over Thomas' shoulder at a group of final year recruits. Most of them girls none of which looked like a monster or vicious killer in Armin's opinion.

"The one with that has the long, dark hair!" Thomas shouted in a whisper as the three boys peered over the corner of the barracks. It appeared though that the group of final year recruits had spotted the trio of boys. They all turned their heads to stare at them.

Thomas let out a '_meep_!' before pulling the other two boys back with him.

"So... how are we going to go up to them?" Armin asked, with a nervous smile.

"Uh... Well, I don't- I'm not sure," Thomas said with a nervous chuckle as he rubbed the back of his head.

"Oh come on guys. We'll just go ask," Eren said dragged them both with him.

Once they reached the group of recruits, all of who were sitting on the steps outside the final year recruits female's barracks, one with short blonde hair spoke up right away.

"Awe! If only you guys had waited just five more minutes I would have won all the dinner rolls!" she shouted at the trio with an exasperated pout.

"You guys were placing bets on us?" Armin asked, pulling himself away from Eren's grip.

"Yeah, and thanks to you boys- I'm going to be eating like a king tonight!" the only male of the group said throwing his hands in the air.

"What do'ya squirts want anyway? Staring at us from over there like creeps- it's just not polite," the male added.

"We-we wanted to see if the Titan killer was here!" Thomas said, but in his effort to get all his words out he ended up shouting at the older recruits. They looked stunned for a moment before they all broke out in laughter, except for the girl with long dark hair. She only smiled while rubbing the back of her neck.

"We'll I guess this is where we take our leave! Good luck, Lac!" the male shouted.

"Huh?! You are seriously leaving me, Brad- guys?" she asked looking around as all her friends got up.

"We've heard your story a million times over! Come find us on the training ground when you're done!" Brad waved as he led the other girls with him out of view from the three boys and the supposed Titan Killer.

"Some friends you lot are..." Lac muttered before turning her attention back to the guys younger than herself. "So, I suppose some guy the name Bothro told you I was some sort of monster that- what was he telling new recruits last year? That I sunk my razor sharp teeth into the back of a Titan's neck and ripped it out?" she asked, looking upward as if she were recalling the story.

"U-uh no... Just, just that you killed a Titan when you were 12- armed only with a carving knife!" Thomas spoke for the trio. Eren studied Lac's face. A bemused smile spread across her lips before she busted out laughing at the trio.

"Oh God- tell me he didn't!" she continued, still chuckling holding her sides.

"So it's not true, then?" Eren asked his shoulders slumping. He wouldn't say it out loud, but he was actually very excited upon waking that morning at the prospect of meeting someone who had actually killed a Titan.

"Hmm?" Lac asked, collecting herself completely.

"You didn't kill a Titan?" Armin asked.

"Oh, no that part is true," the older girl said, all traces of amusement gone.

All three boys were stunned to silence before questions poured form all of them at once- bombarding Lac with their curiosities.

"Was it a 20 meter class?!"

"What did you kill it with, if not a carving knife?!"

"How did you manage to survive?!"

"Eh!? Children, children- clam down! One question at a time-" she said, holding her hands out in a defensive manner.

"You'll really answer all our questions?" Armin asked, looking surprised.

A warm smiled spread across Lac's face again, "Yeah, why not? Have a seat," she motioned to the steps she was sitting on. "Ask whatever you want and if you guys ask something that makes me uncomfortable I just won't answer it. That sounds fair, right?"

They all nodded.

"Okay, so- I guess first things first. It wasn't a 20 meter class. It was 7 meters at most-"

"Still! That's terrifying!" Armin interjected.

Lac nodded her head, her expression turning grim as her thoughts lead her back to that day.

"How did you manage to kill it?" Eren asked his eyes wide with inspiration.

Lac's entire body tensed as she looked upward again, like the events of that day were playing out for her in the sky. Eren blushed as the silence droned on and he started to wonder if he had asked the wrong question. But eventually something relaxed in her, but her gaze stayed upward. Her voice was much softer when she spoke next.

"Mr. Landerson. I can't believe I'd almost forgotten his name- he was our village's butcher. His daughter had joined the military and earlier that year she sent him two new sheering machetes. They were crafted out of steal from the army's reserved metal. He was so proud when he got them, showed them off to anyone that would look..." a frown started to grow on her face, "He was eaten that day."

Eren hesitated to ask his question. But he had to know.

"Weren't you scared?"

Lac blinked and brought herself back to the present.

"Scared?"

Eren, clutched his fists and thought back to his mother and Hans. "Weren't you scared to take the Titan on?" he asked through clenched teeth.

Lac's smiled returned, much smaller than before, but still it was there. "Scared...? No I guess I wasn't."

"H-how could you not be scared?!" Thomas asked, shouting again.

Lac tried to keep her smile on, for the younger teen's sake, but she just couldn't manage it perfectly. "Don't get me wrong, when I first heard the cries... someone was running down the main street shouting, 'Titan! Titan'" Lac gulped hard, "I froze. I was... so terrified I couldn't even breathe. But then I," Lac struggled to find the right words, "At the beginning of the Titan's attack I had something precious to me, but then it was destroyed. After I realized my precious thing was gone- I stopped being scared." She looked up at the trio of boys from her position on the steps. They looked so young.

"In fact," she continued, "I haven't really been scared since. Nothing is quite as powerful as it used to be. I wasn't scared of the Titan because after what I loved was gone, fear simply wasn't necessary anymore," she concluded with a flippant hand motion. "They can't take anything away from me anymore."

"C-can I ask, what was it you lost?" Armin asked.

"Ah!" Lac shouted sitting up and launching herself from the steps with a carefree skip and such grace it almost appeared as if she were gliding. "That's something I won't answer!" she said, with her smile back in place. "I should really go practice now, my final exams are coming up and if I don't make top ten I might hang myself,"

She stalked off toward the training grounds. As soon as her back was to the trio of new cadets her smile fell.

Dammit. Thinking back to that day, thinking about her life before here, she couldn't seem to stop the memories from flooding back.

She couldn't keep herself from remembering the last time she saw her brother.

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><p>AN: so i guess i should mention that i changed the military age requirement to 15, so they graduate when they're 18 because of consent reasons. this will eventually be an oc/Levi story so if Lac graduates when she's 18 at least she's legal. so due to the age changes the year when major canon events happens is going to change too.

we will return to the first person perspective next chapter.

thank you a million times over to:

**Shuuno** for leaving such a nice review

and **PyroRocker** for following this story.

THIS CHAPTER IS DEDICATED TO YOU BEAUTIFUL BEASTS.


	3. Only Moments Left

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><p>"I wanted to tell her that I loved her, and not in the complicated way I loved our parents, but in a simple way I never had to think about. I loved her like breathing."<p>

- Brenna Yovanoff, _The Replacement _

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><p>x<p>

**Year 845 Two Days After The Fall of Wall Maria**

"Wake up, Lac," John's voice drifted into my sleep hazed brain.

"Hmmm?" I asked, my hand coming up to wipe drool from my face, my blurry eyes blinked a couple times before I could focus. John was sitting on my small twin bed, his hand running through my hair staring down at me.

"You need to wake up, I have an appointment with the Doctor," he said, still stroking my hair. His soft smile must have been contagious because soon I was smiling as well. I sat up and stretched.

"What time is it?" I asked, yawning.

"I dunno, probably late," he said leaning back on my bed. He was already dressed, his dark hair combed and neatly parted.

I sat up and climbed off my bed and promptly tripped over my discarded clothes on the floor along with several displaced tools, and paper and… just random junk.

Even though he couldn't see me, John leaned over the bed and quirked an eyebrow.

"You really should clean up your side of the room more often, I'm blind and I can tell it's a mess..."

I rubbed my forehead that had just smacked the ground, "Yeah, yeah..." I muttered and glanced over at John's side of the room. Clean. Perfect. Orderly. Then again, it wasn't so much that he was a clean freak, but that he had to have things in specific places so he could find them. I trudged myself over to my trunk and pulled out a skirt and blouse for the day and proceeded to change.

A positive to having a blind roommate? Never having to leave the room to change. That day shouldn't have been any different, but as I shrugged off my sleep dress and put on my clothes I noticed that John was staring in my general direction before he whipped his head to the other side of the room and I could have sworn he was pushing down a blush.

I pulled my boots on, "Okay, I'm good," I said, yawning some more, shrugging off his strange behavior.

"You're not even going to brush you hair?" he asked standing, and expertly avoiding all of my mess.

"How'dya know I didn't just do it super-fast, blind boy?" I asked, using my affectionate nickname. If anyone else was to call out his blindness specifically I would usually end up in a scuffle, but for me it was okay to comment on it.

"Because any personal grooming that fast can't be considered, by any means, effective," he sighed.

I met up with him at the door and grabbed his hand in mine. He entwined our fingers, looking down at our connected hands before looking up, directly at my face.

My heart skipped a beat, and for the second time since I'd awoken I had to shake off his strange behavior. Only… I couldn't

"You're... acting weird today, John."

As I lead him down the stairs of our farm house he stared down at his feet.

"Am I? I suppose I'm just really happy today."

"Oh yeah? What's special about today?"

He smiled that little smile of his, "I guess... just being alive is making me happy. I could be dead, ya know."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't even start with your, 'the natural state of things is dead,' bullshit. It's too early." We made it into the kitchen where my step-mother and father were seated, along with all my half siblings and step siblings. Not including John and me, we had seven other siblings. Two older ones from our step-mother's first marriage and five younger siblings from when our father and step-mother got married.

Our oldest step sibling, Lucy just had a baby of her own. Her and her husband lived on the farm in the little guest cottage that they'd turned into their own home.

It was... a noisy household.

"There you two are. Lac sleep in again, John?" my father asked in his soft voice. I'd seen other father's in town, and my classmate's fathers. All of them had deep voices and this air of confidence around them.

Not my father.

He was a meek man, soft spoken and intelligent. Too intelligent for a farmer. But he'd been stuck with his family's farm. I use to wonder if he'd ever wanted a different life. One that didn't involve raising livestock or tending to crops. When I was younger I asked him once, but all he said was

"A different life? No, I can't say I'd ever want that. If I lead a different life I'd never have met you, Lacramo." he smiled at the time, but even as a kid I could see he had his fair share of regrets.

"She sleeps like a bear," John said, moving to his seat with his hands outstretched. Once he knocked the seat he pulled it out carefully and lowered himself. My place was always next to him.

Our step-mother ladled some eggs onto our plates without so much as a hello.

It was no secret that she didn't care for John or I, and I guess in a weird way I could understand. She wasn't our mother and we, in no way, were her children. She dealt with us because she loved our father. But if it were up to her she would sent us out on the streets.

I gobbled up my eggs and was standing, tugging my brother away from his half eaten food.

"John has a Doctor's appointment. We'll be back after," I called behind me as John tried to steady himself to my pace.

"Don't be gone too long, we need help repairing the eastern fence! There's been a low rumble coming from the south all morning, so be back before it starts to pour!" she called out at us as I opened the door. I didn't bother to reply.

"We'll be back as soon as we can!" John called just before I slammed the door shut.

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><p>After about five minutes of walking and brooding my brother spoke up "You know, if you weren't so rude to her all the time, she'd probably hate you less."<p>

"Tch, like I care about being hated less."

His grip in my hand tightened. Not so much as in he wanted to comfort me but the he wanted to make sure he had my attention.

After we were awhile away from the house I pulled a pair of dark eye glasses out of my pocket and paused our walk.

"Here," I said, placing the glasses on my brother's face. While I loved his eyes they gave the townsfolk mixed feelings. He frowned as I placed them on.

"I really hate these things..." he muttered and grabbed my hand again.

"I know, but not everyone can love your blindness like I do!" I said in a singsong voice.

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><p>I lead John all the way into town and to the Doctor's front door.<p>

"I'm going to go hang around the bakery while you're in there," I told him. He was standing right on the office's stoop, one foot raised as he turned to face me. His hand found mine again.

"Promise me you'll stay in the bakery?" he asked, he had a troubled expression and I couldn't for the life of me figure out why.

"Sometimes the Doctor tells me that you wait outside on the bench across the street, but today- promise me that you'll stay at the bakery till my appointment is done, okay? That thunder is getting closer and I'd hate for you..." He looked up, again as if he could see into my eyes and I felt something twist in my gut as he smiled. It wasn't a happy smile... it was filled with a bit of sadness. "I'd hate for you to get caught in the rain, is all."

I nodded my head even though he could see and gave his hand and reassuring squeeze.

"Okay, John. I promise." I said giving him a smile.

He nodded and turned to go inside but at the last moment turned around and hugged me.

"You know I've always loved you most, right?" he whispered in my ear. It was the first time I noticed he had grown a bit taller than me. Strange. We had always been the same height for as long as I could remember. I pulled away and looked at his face and saw we didn't look too much alike each other anymore either. His face had gotten longer. his features more defined while mine still had some childish chub to it. Shouldn't twins always look alike? What would happen if the changes kept coming? As my eyes drifted over all his features I realized his were doing the same. Why did it feel different than other times? Why did it feel like he could see me?

The thunder was closer now. Weirder than any thunder I'd ever heard before. The streets were still crowded though. We lived in a small town- it was considered a village by most, but that was probably because it was very spread out. Downtown had two story buildings and lots of shops, but the residents mostly lived in the outlying farms.

"Of course. I love you more than anyone else too. What's up blind boy?" I let out a nervous chuckle, "You're acting so strange."

"Hmmm," he said, looking down the street. "I guess it's just been sort of a weird day." he shrugged his shoulders and walk into the office without a glance back at me.

I stayed outside the office for a couple minutes before making my way to the bakery.

My feet hitting the cobblestone pavement echoed as my thoughts focused on nothing important. The sun was shining heavy down on my shoulders.

The soft breeze that was passing through the buildings became still. I thought it was strange. If the storm really was coming... then shouldn't the wind have picked up more?

I made it to the bakery and bought myself a couple slices of sweet bread and sat outside. I had ten minutes of peace before the the screams and sounds of destruction started.

_"Titans!"_

_"Titans!"_

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><p>i know... it might seem like there's some twincest going on here but i promise you there isn't... the details... concerning their birth and the missing biological mother are alll key parts to later parts of this story.<p>

there's only a couple of you out there, well by my stats calculation only around 40. so i guess i just wanted to tell you all again how much i appreciate your reading. and if you have questions or think i'm doing something wrong let me know.


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